Brussels – After the postponement of the EU housing plan to 2026, twelve European capitals and cities of art are calling on Brussels to hurry up and implement urgent action to solve the housing crisis with immediate resources to be found by unbundling housing investments from the constraints of the Stability Pact and reallocating unspent NRRP funds to housing, and with a long-term plan, dedicating a larger slice of Cohesion funds to housing in the Union’s next multiannual financial framework.
The mayors of Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Budapest, Paris, Rome, Warsaw, Lisbon, Lyon, Bologna, Ghent, and Leipzig—twelve cities representing nearly 15 million people—came forward today (Feb. 20) at the European Parliament during the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions, announcing the future presentation of a housing emergency plan. Together, they met with the European Commissioner in charge of housing policy, Dan Jørgensen, and the chairwoman of the special committee for the Housing Crisis of the EU Parliament, Dem Irene Tinagli.
Led by Barcelona’s first citizen, Socialist Jaume Collboni, the twelve sounded the alarm over the “growing shortage of housing options for low- and middle-income families, essential workers and young people.” And in the midst of a crisis that “puts at stake the very legitimacy of our democracies and the European project,” the European Commission’s decision to not include the European Plan for Affordable Housing in the Annual Work Program presented last week “is not good news.” The Right to Housing Plan promised by Ursula von der Leyen in her policy guidelines for the new term cannot wait.
Commissioner Jørgensen made it clear that he wanted to wait for the recommendations of the special committee headed by Tinagli before drafting the plan and announced that he was working with the EU executive vice president in charge of Cohesion, Raffaele Fitto, to double the resources of the Cohesion funds earmarked for housing policies, from €7.5 to €15 billion. “We take note of this,” the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, replied to him, suggesting, however, that these funds “should be channelled directly to local governments and their local partners.”
But “more needs to be done,” and “done now,” the first citizen of the ville lumière pointed out, by widening the mesh of state aid to “allow more investment in social and affordable housing by public institutions at all levels.” Putting new joint debt on the table through a pan-European investment platform on the Next Generation EU fund model and activating the safeguard clauses in the new Stability Pact to exclude housing investment from the deficit and debt ceilings.
“Exceptional times call for exceptional measures,” said the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri. Not only in other areas “such as common defence,” or as done five years ago with the COVID pandemic. In the meantime, “NRRPs in all European countries can be a portfolio of immediately available resources, both unspent resources and savings from auction rebates,” suggested the mayor of Bologna, Matteo Lepore.
Among the common challenges facing Rome, Bologna, and the other ten cities is certainly out-of-control tourism, which has contributed to skyrocketing rental prices and significantly reduced housing supply over the years. Gualtieri admitted that European rules on short rentals are “very weak” and that their revision “is an issue.” But the point is also, at the national level, “to give mayors the legal tools that our European colleagues already have to regulate the sector.” The battle waged against short rentals in Barcelona by Collboni is one example.
Another aspect of the phenomenon is that of vacant housing: “In Italy, as in many European cities, we have between 10 and 15 per cent of private homes that are empty,” Lepore pointed out. While fiscal intervention remains the responsibility of member states, resources from Brussels could “lend a hand” to ensure guarantees for those landlords who do not rent out of fear of not being paid.
The scourge of the housing crisis actually has many facets and many victims: low-income families, workers, young people, the elderly, migrants and refugees, and the homeless. The European affordable housing plan “should not leave anyone behind,” warned Lyon Metropolitan City Vice President Renaud Payre. Moreover, there is a political aspect, highlighted again by the mayor of the capital of Emilia Romagna. “The far right, populisms, also and above all appeal to the social discomfort in our cities,” Lepore said. That is why, “if it wants to strengthen citizens’ trust in democracy, we need Europe to make a move.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
